Finding Pro Bono Developers and Designers for Social Change

(Photo Credit: PSD on Flickr)

Finding talent is never easy. Finding talent on a budget is even tougher. For this reason, many nonprofits and social change initiatives turn to pro bono developers and designers to make great things happen.

Below are four strategies that Social Actions has employed to attract hardworking professionals whose hourly rates are out of reach for our small nonprofit.

• Create a 'mentors' community - Ask a group of experts to periodically advise and do work on your organization's behalf. Their skills, advice and connections will be invaluable, and may attract other experts who are willing to offer their services.
• Use your first degree contacts - The people closest to you are more likely to commit time and energy to your project. Prior to posting a request for pro bono consulting, inquire with your friends, family, and colleagues to see if they want to pitch in some time and talent.
• Coffee shops and airports are your friends - Whenever you're traveling or working on the road, carry a business card and be ready with a 45-second elevator pitch. You never know when you'll run into someone looking for a service opportunity.
• Be transparent - With the explosion of social networking and micro-blogging, transparency has taken on a new meaning. By publicly documenting your good intentions, hard work, and organization's culture, you'll be more likely to attract volunteers that are a great match for your cause.

As tempting as it is to outsource all of your development and design needs to pro bono consultants, there can also be hidden costs. Ben Wyskida of The Nation wrote to me last month with this reminder:

To date, Social Actions has had three incredibly positive experiences with pro-bono talent. In March 2008, we asked one of our partners if they would make an introduction to the Ruby on Rails developers they relied on for the build-out of their site. We explained that Social Actions needed the help of a Ruby on Rails developer to create a working prototype of our aggregation utility for social change.

The founders Zazengo replied by not just making an introduction to their lead programmer, Cameron Booth. They also requested that he help us prepare the first working prototype of Social Actions API. Cameron Booth turned out to be a full partner in the build out of Social Actions (we are still using his original code), and accompanied the project to NetSquared Conference, where Social Actions won $20,000 in prizes.

Shortly after winning the NetSquared Mashup Challenge, Christine Egger and I ran into videographer Justin Whitney at a coffee shop in San Francisco. Justin noticed the big grins on our faces, and asked what kind of project we were working on. We explained Social Actions to him. A few weeks later, he offered to prepare a YouTube video to spread Social Actions vision for rewiring the web for social change. Below is the video Justin created for us (including interviews with a number of our partners).

More recently, the founder and CEO of Ning, found our Ning-powered social network and joined. I followed up with a direct message, and asked if we could have a conversation. During the call, Gina Bianchini suggested that she ask her design and development team to work with Social Actions on improvements to our branded social network. The result was the relaunch of My Social Actions in January 2009.

Do you have success stories about working with pro-bono developers and designers?
Please share your story in a comment below

Additional Resources

Social Actions' very own Joe Solomon authored the following blog entries in February 2008 (prior to joining the Social Actions team)

Part 1 - How to Find A Volunteer Web Developer For Your Social Chan...

Part 2 - How to Find A Volunteer Web Developer For Your Social Chan...

Note: This blog entry originally appeared in Social Actions' e-newsletter for February 5, 2009. In each issue, we feature a different social media tool and explain how it can be leveraged for social change.

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